1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for continuously melting down scrap metal, in particular, bales of scrap metal containing residual plastic materials, the scrap metal being fed to a melt-down reactor and the heat required to melt the scrap being provided by direct heating from below, using burners that are located near the tapping point.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of a shaft furnace to melt down scrap metal, in which the column of material that is to be melted is heated from below by burners, is already known from DE-PS 25 04 889. The fuel-oxygen combustion that is used in the shaft furnace for direct heating is so managed that a reducing atmosphere area is created beneath the oxidizing melt-down zone by adding large pieces of coal to the material to be melted. As a rule, relatively large amounts of plastic materials are contained in the material to be melted down, particularly when utilizing types of scrap metal that contain organic materials, such as occur, for example, when disposing of motor vehicles, or in the case of material that is to be melted down and which has been obtained by compressing bales of scrap metal, for example, from automobiles, and these lead to a relatively high concentration of injurious substances in the waste gases.
Considerable quantities of gas that contain harmful organic or inorganic substances are generated by heating melt-down reactors by burners, particularly in the case of the material that is to be melted down as referred to herein, so that large-scale and costly gas purifying facilities are required.